Despite the similarities in the processes of imperial European colonization around the world, the colonial experience of the people in the territory we call "America" is central in contextualizing our project. Before 1492, this continent was known by other names more fitting for its citizens, such as Abya Yala, Anahuac, Tahuantinsuyo, etc. However, our subject only permits us to recognize the complex diversity of the Americas, in conjunction with its many appropriations.

Discussing race, racism, and discrimination in the Americas in general, and in Argentina and Uruguay in particular, is a major challenge. This difficulty stems from the racial issues surrounding the myths of mestizaje (miscegenation) and European migration. Mestizaje, understood as the process of racial and/or cultural mixing, has been a central theme in the political aspects of the territories invaded by the Iberians. The idea of the mestizo was important for the consolidation of national cultures and identities (Martinez-Echazabal, 1998). This interracial and/or cultural mix justified the imaginary homogenization of the peoples of the Americas. During the eighteenth century, new mestizo nations merged the vast ethnic, linguistic, and cultural diversity of its territories into cultural and national identities and official languages. This fusion meant that every inhabitant of the continent was part of a nation-state and occupied a specific socio-racial position. However, mestizaje and outdated concepts of race and racism pose the following problem: How can we talk about race, racism and discrimination among mestizo citizens?

An answer to this question is further complicated in Uruguay and Argentina because the myth of mestizaje changes when combined with the narrative of European migration. According to the official narratives, the racial and cultural mix that occurred in these two societies was the result of the blending in of “white” European descendants. The official histories of these states have been closely connected from the beginning of colonization to the present. In addition to their parallel histories, their societies share foundational myths about their consolidation into the nation-states they are today. In both countries their official histories state that their nation-states were consolidated by vast European migration. This narrative is still relevant because such a high percentage of the populations in Uruguay and Argentina are recognized, and recognize themselves, as “white”. This self-recognition is problematic for two reasons: first, because before migration these territories were inhabited by indigenous societies who were and have been systematically eliminated; and second, because migrations were not exclusively white, nor European, much less voluntary, as thousands of Africans were forced onto the American continents under slavery.  

Our reflection and discussion does not intend to criticize the self-determination of these societies, but rather to show two examples of the ways race, racism, and discrimination operate in the Americas from a decolonial perspective. In the Americas, the narratives of mestizaje and European migration not only determined the characteristics of these nation-states, but also generated a socio-racial classification. In this classification, certain people, usually white people of European ancestry, were on the top of the social hierarchy, while the common people who formed the lower classes were generally from different ethnicities. In this socio-racial classification indigenous people were considered superior to slaves, while mestizos and mulatos formed the class between the lower and upper classes. In the Americas, this socio-racial classification determined the access of different groups to social, political, economic, and cultural opportunities. The restrictions placed on Afro-descendants in the Americas, and their limited access to those opportunities, reveal the active agency of these and other populations in the social dynamics of the continent. The active participation of the African and Afro-descendant communities in Argentina and Uruguay allows us to highlight the long and difficult road this population has endured to ensure that their societies recognize their presence, importance, and action. Among the several forms of acknowledgement we will concentrate mainly on candombe, and in our historical sections we will make a brief analysis of the Afro-descendant press and the roles of Afro-descendant women.